Sri Lanka’s presidential election has gone into a second round of vote counting for the first time in history as the incumbent liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been eliminated. Marxist

COLOMBO: A previously fringe Marxist politician was on course Sunday (Sept 22) to become Sri Lanka's next leader after a presidential vote coloured by discontent over the island nation's response to an unprecedented financial crisis.

This is Sri Lanka’s 1st presidential election since its 2022 economic crisis. A 2nd round of counting is likely, a first in Sri Lankan history. Results expected by Sunday noon.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka will vote for its next president Saturday in an effective referendum on an unpopular International Monetary Fund austerity plan enacted after the island nation's unprecedented financial crisis.

More than three dozen candidates are vying to lead Sri Lanka out of an economic collapse that led to the 2022 ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Whoever wins the election will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF programme till 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, attract investors and

Sri Lanka’s presidential election has headed into a run-off, with leftist outsider Anura Kumara Dissanayake leading the vote count but failing to pass the 50 per cent threshold needed for an outright victory in the south Asian country’s first election since it fell into default.